Several Southeast indigenes are calling for the sentencing of Simon Ekpa and the release of Nnamdi Kanu.

Biafra agitator Simon Ekpa was arrested on Thursday, November 21, 2024, by the Finnish authorities alongside four others for using social media to allegedly spread terrorist propaganda and incite violence against civilians and public authorities in Nigeria.

According to the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, NBI, Ekpa, who is also a Finnish citizen, has been suspected of public exhortation to commit offenses with terrorist intent as well as suspicion of financing terrorism.

The detective, Chief Inspector Otto Hiltunen, leading the investigation, said, “The suspect has furthered his efforts from Finland, resulting in violence and other crimes in Southeast Nigeria.”

The worsening insecurity crisis in the southeast saw gunmen perpetuating crimes under the guise of protecting the region while calling for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra.

These criminals were causing disorder in the southeast while claiming to be enforcing the Monday sit-at-home order of Simon Ekpa in a bid to demand the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

A retired captain of the United States Army, National Defence and Military Strategist, Bishop Johnson, stated that Ekpa’s arrest could have an impact on the South East if the Finnish government handles it properly.

Johnson warned against extraditing Ekpa to Nigeria like they did to Kanu, adding that Ekpa’s arrest could further inflame the Southeast if his loyalists noticed that he was not subjected to due process.

He also said that those funding the operation could also stop if Ekpa is held accountable for his actions and bring peace to the region.

“Simon Ekpa’s arrest will have an impact on the Southeast depending on how it’s handled by the Finnish government.

“If the Finnish government holds Ekpa and his accomplices – those sponsoring his operations, if they hold him accountable in Finland, not here in Nigeria, it will have an impact.

“The incitement coming from him will no longer be viable and those sponsoring him will stop, the incitement will end; that is if he’s held accountable in Finland.

“If he’s extradited to Nigeria, there is the possibility that instead of his arrest having a positive impact, it might even lead to more violence because Nigeria as a country is very notorious for its abysmal human rights records.

“If you have a situation where Ekpa is extradited to Nigeria and is kept in the same condition Nnamdi Kanu is kept in, there would be those offended that two Igbo sons are dumped in DSS dungeon and are inhumanely treated.

“So, if you have that situation, then his arrest will lead to a negative impact instead of having a positive impact. It may also lead to bloodletting and destruction in the Southeast.”

“If there is due process and he is found guilty and held accountable for all the incitement in the Southeast, but anything contrary to that, if there is jungle justice, if the judicial process is bungled, it will inflame some of the people he has here on ground, because Ekpa does not operate in a vacuum, there are loyalists who follow him.

“It all depends on how his arrest is handled and if he’s properly prosecuted, if he’s held accountable for all the loss of lives and damage to properties as a result of his actions,” he said.

“I think a combination of both would work because if Ekpa is held accountable for all the incitement in Finland that he created, which led to the loss of lives in the Southeast and Kanu is released, then peace can be restored.

“Most of the time, these people that perpetrate criminal activities in the Southeast, not all of them are real agitators, there are criminals who have capitalized on Kanu’s incarceration and absence to commit all sorts of criminal activities.

“So, if Kanu is freed we would have denied those people the excuse they used in committing crimes.

“With Kanu’s release, we will be able to separate the real agitators for self-determination from the criminal elements that have used the opportunity for their selfish interests,” he said.

However, a former Director General of Voice of Nigeria, VON, Osita Okechukwu, called for Ekpa to be sentenced either in Finland or Nigeria for his crimes in the Southeast.

The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, noted that Ekpa’s arrest was long overdue.

He said, “His arrest was long overdue. About two years ago, I met the Director General of NIA and he said they were making efforts but there were no bilateral diplomatic efforts with Finland.

“I urged him to intensify their efforts because Ekpa is a criminal and a murderer, because of him a lot of people have lost their lives in the Southeast.

“He has grounded the economy of the Southeast for no just cause, so I commend the diplomatic efforts of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar and our security agencies for the long hunt for fugitive Simon Ekpa.

“I totally disagree with Ekpa’s strategy of committing heinous crimes against Ndigbo and grounding the Southeast geopolitical zone.

“There are better strategies to halt the marginalisation of our people, which is not by killings and maiming. I call for his sentence whether in Finland or in Nigeria,” he stated.